SGA meetings are often boring. There, I said it. They’re boring and uneventful and filled with lots of bureaucratic nonsense, motions and voting procedure that leave most laymen confused and frustrated.

I have a message for all of you: Show up anyway.

As with any democracy, civilian participation is the only way to truly influence the elected officials and SGA is no exception. If you, the students, aren’t participating in SGA then the entire organization is pointless.

Get involved.

Do you see something on campus you don’t like? Bring it up at the next SGA meeting. Do they not give you an answer you want? Go again. Press them, influence them and ultimately you will succeed.

Public discourse can only be improved by the active involvement of the masses, and students at Gannon rarely do this effectively.

The last SGA meeting was more exhausting than listening to talk radio after being awake for 48 hours. The motions were redundant, the content of discussion was bland and most representatives were falling asleep in their chairs.

Do them a favor and show up to these meetings to make them more interesting. Spark discussion and get engaged. Run for a position as a representative, request funding for your club or organization, and never take no for an answer.

You know what it says when no students show up to give input at an SGA meeting? Lack of dissent implies consent, so apparently Gannon University is perfect and no student would change anything. Is that true? No. Gannon is a great place to live, study and succeed…but it – and any other higher education institution – is not perfect.

So please, show up and be heard. Make some noise! Be daring, be adventurous and demand a better government from your elected officials on campus and in your corner of the world.